At the Darmstadt wedding of her granddaughter, Princess Victoria of Hesse, to Prince Louis of Battenberg, Queen Victoria was very impressed with Prince Alexander of Battenberg. It was thought Alexander might marry Princess Victoria of Prussia.

There was a vacancy for a lady-in-waiting on Queen Victoria's staff. Victoria found it comforting to surround herself with widows. One eligible lady was Lady Eliza Jane Waterpark. Lady Waterpark's husband, a former lord-in-waiting to Prince Albert, was deceased. Lady Waterpark was hired to be a lady-in-waiting.

The Lord Mayor of London asked Queen Victoria if she would come to open the Blackfriars Bridge when it was completed. Victoria regreted that it was quite out of the question for her to do anything of the kind in the heat of the summer. In the event when November came, she opened the bridge on November 6, 1869.